1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to food preparation and more specifically to methods and apparatuses for preparing Shawarma, Gyros and Doner kebab sandwiches and meals, which decreases the amount of time required to fill an order.
2. Discussion of the Prior Art
Doner Kebab, Shawarma or Gyros are some of the most common fast food offerings worldwide. This type of food is based on roasting different types of meat, e.g., beef, chicken, lamb, veal or another similar type of meat. The meat is roasted by inserting a vertical spindle 111 through the meat, and then placing the meat and spindle into a grilling unit which slowly rotates the spindle, thereby evenly cooking the meat. Traditionally, the roasted meat is then sliced by a skilled laborer, and used to prepare a sandwiches (subs and wraps) and meal using a piece of bread with other additives such as mayonnaise, pickles, tomatoes, cubed French fries, different sauces and salads to form a fast meal. This type of food has met with only limited acceptance by large fast food companies because of the scarcity of the skilled labor required to prepare this type of food, along with the long period of time required to cook and sliced the meat.
Slicing roasted meat is still a manual task nearly everywhere. Even when the slicing process is automated to some extent, there is still need for manual intervention for at least part of the process. For example, International Patent Application WO 2009/085022, where the meat is sliced automatically but with low speed and complications which will be explained later. The disclosed invention overcomes these shortcomings and improves upon the prior art with additional features, such as automatic meat smoking and automated sandwich and meal preparation, where a customer-selected type of bread is filled with the desired ingredients provided through an accurate dosing mechanism. Further, the sandwich is heated without any manual intervention, and is packed in paper or foil printed with all the information of the order in speedy, high quality and hygienic manner.
Key deficiencies of the prior art are addressed by the disclosed invention are discussed in the following paragraphs. In the traditional method of Shawarma, Gyros and Doner Kebab preparation, the person in charge of meat slicing may be subjected to high temperatures in summer and large temperature swings in winter, especially when roasting is done out of doors, which can result in injury or illness. In the disclosed invention, the operator is not subject to these heat effects, as the grilling process is enclosed and substantially automated.
Meat slicing in the traditional fashion is sometimes done prematurely, and may result in the person doing the slicing being burned if they do not take proper care in close proximity to the heat source. Furthermore, manual slicing may result in inconsistent slice thickness due to lack of experience. The disclosed invention addresses these deficiencies by either notifying the operator that roasting is completed or automating roasting times, and, when the operator requires sliced meat, automating the slicing process while controlling for a fixed slice thickness. Furthermore, the disclosed invention can optionally completely automate the smoking, cooking and slicing process and once started in an automatic mode, will require no intervention from the operator to complete all roasting, smoking, and slicing steps.
Prior art methods of roasting commonly employ gas or electrical forms of heat, which do not inherently add to the meat flavor. If a smoked flavor is desired to be added, this is normally accomplished by roasting using natural coal. Compared to gas or electrically produced heat, roasting using natural coal results in slow production, additional cost and efforts. Where a smoked flavor is desired, the disclosed invention improved over the prior art by providing a smoking taste for the meat when it is placed inside a glass enclosure supplied with the smoked air without any additional time, effort or cost.
In the prior art methods of roasting, the Shawarma cone is subjected to air pollution while being grilled. The disclosed invention isolates the Shawarma cone within a glass enclosure, preventing contamination from external pollutants.
The aforementioned International Patent Application WO 2009/085022 discloses a method of slicing the meat vertically similar to the traditional manual way. This imposes an additional time requirement to store slices, slowing the production process, as it requires multiple cycles of slicing up and down to complete. Furthermore, due to the nature of the vertical slicing mechanism, the invention disclosed in the International Patent Application leaves a dead zone of meat at the bottom of the Shawarma cone that the slicing mechanism cannot reach, either wasting this meat, or requiring it to be processed manually, thereby defeating the purpose of the automated slicing. Finally, this prior art invention requires that the Shawarma cone be substantially cylindrical in shape, as opposed to the traditional conical shape, for it to work most efficiently. The disclosed invention slices the meat in a helical and spiral pattern, starting from the top and proceeding to the bottom of the Shawarma cone in a single pass. As a result, the time required to complete the slicing process is minimized, no dead zone of meat is left to require subsequent manual processing, and the slicing mechanism is not sensitive to the shape of the Shawarma cone. These advantages speeding production and maximize resulting profits.
Slicing in the prior art (WO 2009/085022) utilizes an unnecessarily complicated light scanning method to control the slicing arm. This introduces the risk that the light sensor may become fouled from food residue, resulting in malfunction. The disclosed invention, in contrast, employs a simple mechanical method by way of a clutch, which makes the slicing arm move according to the shape of the Shawarma cone accurately and easily. This method reduces the cost of the disclosed invention, its associated maintenance requirements, and reduces errors and malfunctions.
Sandwich and meal filling with its ingredients in the traditional manual way has many deficiencies like air pollution, non-hygienic labor, and deterioration of the sandwich's cold ingredients due the excessive heat. The disclosed invention addresses these deficiencies by continuously storing the cold sandwich ingredients in refrigerated chambers away from pollution.
Manual material dosing can result in inconsistent taste in the final product, which in turn harms customer trust and retention. The disclosed invention addresses these problems by implementing an automatic dosing system; solid ingredients are precisely weighed, and time controlled pumps ensure precise quantities of liquid ingredients.
Manual sandwich and meal preparation is also slow and inefficient, resulting in customers potentially waiting a significant amount of time to receive their order, again harming customer trust and retention. The disclosed invention is capable of doing the same work in a much shorter time.
The traditional manual way is also prone to mistakes, especially for customers who have complex and detailed orders for varying types and quantities of ingredients. The disclosed invention helps mitigate this problem by automatically performing sandwich and meal assembly, and printing the order information on the packing paper. Order specifics may be entered either by the machine operator or, to further reduce the possibility of mistake, directly by the customer.
The traditional manual method of Shawarma preparation requires skilled and patient labor, reducing the spreading of this kind of fast food and increasing its cost. The disclosed invention requires less manual labor, and the required staffing does not need the same level of skill, which reduces the cost to provide sandwiches and thus the ultimate sandwich and meal price.
Further, restaurants preparing these sandwiches and meals in the traditional fashion can suffer from variable quality. The disclosed invention, with its automated sandwich and meal assembly process, assures consistent quality and taste, thereby enhancing customer experience and retention. By some amendments like canceling the top section that make grilling, smoking, slicing and exchange it with ready slices that use in special refrigerated store then heat it when we need to use that slices and add it to sandwiches and meals we can use the machine in direct sell for Shawarma products in different gathering areas like airports, schools, universities, company's offices, malls and etc. The machine need also for credit card and money accepting mechanism to use it in direct sales model. Finally, the disclosed invention is scalable in size, and can be adapted to a mobile platform requiring a minimum of support personnel. With a mobile size, the disclosed invention can provide sandwiches and meal to different customers in temporary crowded areas such as stadiums, arenas, public gardens, sea shows etc.